Haluk Ergulec, the former graphic services boss at the centre of a New York agency fraud scandal, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Ergulec is the former owner of graphics supplier The Color Wheel. In November he and his company pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to rig bids and defraud clients of Grey Worldwide between 1991 and 2001 [WAMN: 27-Nov-02].
Among the charges was the issue of false invoices. As a result, Ergulec will repay $1.5 million (€1.4m; £1m) to defrauded agencies; $1.1m will go to Grey, while the rest will be split between New York shops Brouillard Communications, Impact Communications and TDI Winston Network.
Despite Ergulec’s sentencing, there is more court action connected with the scandal to come. Quondam Grey evp and director of graphic services Mitch Mosallem is still pleading not guilty to accusations he was involved in the scam, as do Birj Deckmejian (one-time Color Wheel salesman) and John Ghianni (former salesman at Long Island firm Quality House of Graphics). Their trial is due to commence April 14.
The Color Wheel is now under new management and has been renamed 291 Digital.
Data sourced from: AdWeek.com; additional content by WARC staff
